"I didn't want to leave Atalanta and would gladly have stayed, but an offer of €8m (£5.6m) is a lot for a club like Atalanta (to turn down)," Benalouane told the Bergamo Post.

Benalouane is expected to sign a four-year deal at Leicester and will become the club's fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Robert Huth on a permanent deal following his successful spell last season and the additions of Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki